Cherrabah resort reins in new rodeo

CHERRABAH Resort is making headlines once again, but this time it’s for something everyone in the region can support – a new rodeo next Saturday.

Marketing director Fran Edney said the rodeo was an opportunity to draw people back to the venue, which attracted criticism following it’s water extraction plans.

More than 95ML of potable bore water will be carted out of the drought-affected Southern Downs region every year, after council approved a new water extraction and distribution facility in the Elbow Valley resort.

“In terms of tourism, we’ve had a lot of bad publicity and the Queensland tourism industry has suffered as a whole,” Ms Edney said.

“So we decided to run with our rodeos again.

“We ran them a number of years ago and they were quite successful. We hope it draws people back to Cherrabah.”

Ms Edney blamed slow trade on recent natural disasters.

“The bushfire, the drought, and then the closure of Cunningham’s Gap as a result are contributing factors,” she said.

But when asked if any of it was to do with the water mining, Ms Edney refused to comment.

Southern Downs Region Mayor Tracy Dobie said the council welcomed any new tourism event to the region.

“The areas outside of Warwick like Cherrabah, Goomburra and Maryvale need events there because they generate visitation,” Cr dobie said.

“So the council welcomes events to the region almost always.”

Ms Edney said the rodeo would be a family event.

“It’s affiliated with NRA and we’ve been working on and planning the event since November last year,” she said.

“A lot of work has gone into this and there will be events for kids, live music and plenty of accommodation if people want to stay or camp.”